Sasami's Adventures at Hogwarts vol 1
by Little Masa-ouki
Summary: Sasami's Adventure with the Vampire Heart - Sasami is thrilled to join Hogwarts and learn magic. But all is not what it seems, when soul piercing howls eminate from the Forbidden Forest. It's up to Sasami and her friends to find out what is causing mons


Disclaimer: Not mine, grommit! Sasami, Ayeka, and the rest of the cast of Tenchi Muyo are property of AIC and Pioneer. Hogwarts and the teachers are property of J.K. Rowling. The other students, and the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, are mine, thank you very much.  
  
Author's notes: While this story is a crossover of Tenchi Muyo, and the Harry Potter series, I cannot stress enough that you do not have to be familiar with both to enjoy the story. Fans of Tenchi Muyo can enjoy watching Sasami in a new environment with new friends, while Harry Potter readers can enjoy seeing a new cast go through the familiar halls of Hogwarts and interacting with their favorite teachers. More than enough information will be given on Sasami and her family, as well as Hogwarts and related magics, so that even if you were unfamiliar with both, you should be able to follow it. Hope you like my story.  
  
Note to Tenchi Muyo fans: This is a story about Sasami and, to a lesser extent, Ayeka. It is not a story about Tenchi or Ryoko, so the parts concerning them, as well as the resolution of the love triangle between them, may seem a bit glossed over. It is simply that I do not want to get distracted by it, as that is a different story than the one I intend to tell.  
  
Another Note to Tenchi Muyo fans: This takes place shortly after Tenchi in Love 2  
  
Note to Harry Potter fans: This takes place after Harry's graduation, but only uses the events from the first four books, as the last three haven't come out at the time this was written. So any conflicts that may occur within the last three books (once they are released) should be ignored.  
  
Email all C&C to lighthawkwings@masakishrine.com  
  
and without further ado...  
  
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Sasami's Adventures with the Vampire Heart  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Unordinary Days and Unexpected Warnings  
  
What would turn out to be a most important day in Sasami's life started out most unordinarily. Sasami's day was started when a tawny owl, of all things, crashed through her window and collapsed on the floor. This struck Sasami as odd for several reasons. First of all, owls were not normally out at this time of day. Secondly, owls normally know their limits, and would rest before reaching this state of exhaustion. And finally, and probably most important, was the fact that tawny owls did not live in Japan.  
  
The owl had not only woken her, but her sister Ayeka as well, who shared a room with her. The two sisters rushed over to the bird. Ayeka prepared a damp cloth and started cleaning the small cuts the owl had gotten from crashing through the window.  
  
Now Sasami and Ayeka were not ordinary in and of themselves either. In truth, they were both princesses of Jurai, a distant and powerful galactic empire, which spread across the stars. Ayeka came to the Earth following a distress beacon, but instead, she found a cheerful boy named Tenchi. Sasami followed her shortly after and they spent some time on Earth. And they loved it there so much, that they decided to stay.  
  
Nevertheless, this still ranked as a rather unordinary event in their unusual lives. Yet another unordinary part of this most unordinary day, was the fact that the owl had a large pouch tied to one leg.  
  
"What do you suppose that is?" Sasami asked, as she prepared a pillow.  
  
"I'm not sure." Ayeka responded. "Let's make sure this fellow is alright, and then we'll see what it is."  
  
The owl somehow seemed a bit put off by this, as if it wanted them to open the pouch before insuring that he was alright. But it was really too tired to put up any sort of a fight, so it was another fifteen minutes before Ayeka finally picked up the pouch. A tag protruded which read, in emerald green letters: "To Sasami Jurai."  
  
"Open it." Sasami said excitedly, wondering what it could be. Cautiously, Ayeka untied the strings and spilled the contents onto the floor.  
  
Dozens of sheets of parchment fell onto the floor. Most noticable of all were two items; a large paper reading: "Hogwarts, the Finest Wizarding School" with a picture of a large castle with an assembly of black robed children in front of it, and a small white envelope. Ayeka slid a delicate nail under the envelope, took out the parchment within, and read aloud.  
  
"Dear Sasami." She read. She was a bit slow, as she did not have much occasion to read English. "We at Hogwarts have taken a notice to your talent, and wish to convince you to pursue your options at our school. Enclosed is a brochure detailing the many benifits of our school, as well as a list of necessary equiptment and procedures to contact us if you wish to pursue this wonderful option. Signed, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. P.S. I'll be calling you shortly."  
  
"Wow! What is all this stuff?" Sasami asked as she picked up the large paper. Much to her surprise, and delight, the children on the paper waved to her.  
  
"I'm not entirely sure." Ayeka said as she leafed through the assorted parchments. "Ground rules...equiptment lists...directions... I don't know what this is all about."  
  
"I wonder when he's going to call." Sasami mused.  
  
No sooner had she finished her sentence, then the telephone rang, causing them both to jump. Neither of them moved, as they listened until the second ring, confirming that they had really heard it. Nervously, Ayeka picked up the phone, just as the third ring ended, and held it out so that both of them could hear.  
  
"H...hello?" Ayeka said cautiously.  
  
"Oh!" A man replied in English. "Um, you wouldn't, by chance, speak English, would you?"  
  
"Yes, I speak some English."  
  
"Whew! That could have been a real problem. I must say, this contraption is quite rude."  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
"I dialed the number like the man told me too, but when I asked for you, it screamed incoherantly at me. I apologized and asked again, and it screamed again. I had to yell at it before it got you, and it screamed at me a third time before it did."  
  
"Um...it screamed?"  
  
"Something like that. Nasty set of lungs it has. Has Jerome arrived yet?"  
  
"Jerome?"  
  
"The owl. He should have gotten there by now."  
  
"Yes he has, the poor thing. I don't know who you are, but treating a living creature like that is inhumane!"  
  
"Well, I wasn't too fond of the idea either, but Jerome insisted. Is he alright?"  
  
"He'll be fine once he rests up."  
  
"Oh, that's good."  
  
"Might I ask who you are?"  
  
"Curses, how rude of me. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. Am I correct to assume this is Miss Ayeka?"  
  
"Yes, I am. What is this all about?"  
  
"Well, it has come to our attention that your younger sister, Sasami, has come of the proper age to attend our school, and has the necessary talents to excell here as well."  
  
"Just a second, Mr. Dumbledore. There's a crane in our window." Indeed, a large crane had flown in, with a similar pouch tied to his foot. He gave a quick scowl at Jerome, which Jerome returned, before allowing Sasami to relieve it of it's load. No sooner had she done this, then the crane took off, making sure to knock over Jerome's pillow in the process.  
  
"Drat. That means Daikoko knows too."  
  
"I beg your pardon?" Ayeka said as she mouthed the word "gentle" to Sasami who was placing Jerome back on his pillow.  
  
"Let me start at the begining." Dumbledore sighed. "I am the headmaster of Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a school dedicated to the training and education of young wizards and witches. And it has come to our attention that your little sister, Sasami, has the required attributes to become a witch. We would like to see this pursued."  
  
"We're a far way from England." Ayeka said slyly, as she looked at the map that was given. "Seems like a lot of effort to recruit one student."  
  
"Alright, Miss Ayeka. I will be level with you. I have learned, through a variety of sources, that you and you're sister are, well, not ordinary. Now of course, no witch is considered ordinary, but you are unordinary even in our circles."  
  
"I really have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"I know that you and you're sister are Juraian."  
  
Ayeka nearly dropped the phone. "You do?"  
  
"Yes, in fact, this is my second encounter with your people. About ten years ago, I tried to recruit a young boy, who also lived in Japan, and was Juraian to boot. But his grandfather wouldn't hear of it. Said something about his destiny being in Japan. And one doesn't live to be my age without learning that one does not mess with destiny."  
  
"His name wasn't...Tenchi was it?"  
  
"What? Um, yes, I do believe it was. Can't be certain, but it does have a familiar ring to it."  
  
"So who is Daikoko?  
  
"He is the headmaster of Urara Gouken, the Japanese school for Wizards. A decent enough fellow. A bit too caught up on his own image, if you ask me."  
  
"And why should Sasami attend Hogwarts over this school?"  
  
"Well, to be quite honest my dear, Urara Gouken is a fine school, and Sasami could probably do very well there. However Hogwarts does have the reputation as the best school throughout the lands, east and west. Still, I'm not one to brag. All the information is in that brochure. But, if you do chose Hogwarts, I can guarantee you that Sasami will have the best protection in that land. I must admit that I am very interested in finding out the connection between Juraian power and our terran magics."  
  
"Well, Dumbledore-sensei. We'll consider it."  
  
"Splendid, child! Should you have any questions, there are instructions on how to contact me, or one of my teachers. I do hope you and Sasami chose our fine school. Good-bye."  
  
"Ja ne..." Ayeka said, as she hung up the phone.  
  
"Wow! A wizard's school! Can I go, Ayeka? Can I?"  
  
"I don't know, Sasami. Father always said we should seek out foreign education and alternative ways of thinking."  
  
"So I can?"  
  
"Don't be too hasty, Sasami. We need to make sure that this is worth doing, and that it isn't a hoax of some sort. Then we need to determine which school is the better one to chose."  
  
"Okay, Ayeka, but I don't think this is fake." Sasami said as she looked at the brochures. The Hogwarts students were waving excitingly, as were the red robed students on the Urara Gouken brochure. Some of them were making faces at eachother, which caused Sasami to laugh.  
  
"Well, we'll see what Washu has to say about this." Ayeka said, although deep down, she knew exactly how it was going to go.  
  
***  
  
"No! Give it back!" Washu cried. Ayeka sighed, as she held the brochure high in the air. Washu was a brilliant scientist, but she had retained the body of a twelve year old, and Ayeka easily kept the paper out of her reach. "I have to study it some more."  
  
"You said it's not scientific, and that's all I need to know."  
  
"Well, it does resemble Juraian energy, but in a way I've never seen before. I have to study it some more!"  
  
"You can study it when I'm done with it!" Ayeka snapped.   
  
***  
  
Sasami lay on the floor of the living room, papers spilled out all around her. Ayeka had read them all thouroughly, and decided that both schools were well and good, but felt that Sasami should make the final choice. She was currently comparing the two brochures.  
  
Hogwarts: A Wide Variety of classes including Potions and Muggle-study   
  
Urara Gouken: A Wide Variety of classes with additional classes in martial arts to train the body and mind.  
  
Hogwarts: An enchanting learning environment with a magical forest and a lake filled with mystic life   
  
Urara Gouken: An ancient place with much history to be learned. Mild wild life allows safe study of magic.  
  
Hogwarts: Strict rules keep students in line and teach them proper discipline.  
  
Urara Gouken: Strict rules keep students in line and teach them proper discipline. And let's face it. Who can beat the Japanese in discipline?  
  
Hogwarts: An award winning staff maximizes the learning potential of the students.  
  
Urara Gouken: A staff that is completely free of mysterious backgrounds, unlike Proffesor Snape, of Hogwarts, who was a Death Eater  
  
Hogwarts: Turn out of some of the greatest wizards, ever, including Dumbledore and the world reknown Harry Potter.  
  
Urara Gouken: Never turned out a Dark Wizard that plunged the world into an age of chaos, like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named  
  
Hogwarts: That's because the teachers at Urara couldn't teach a wizard to be powerful enough to plunge a frog into an age of chaos, more or less the entire world   
  
Urara Gouken: Oh yeah? You're mother was a birch tree!  
  
Hogwarts: What'd you say about my mother?   
  
"That's it!" Sasami scolded, placing both back in their folders. "You two have a good time out, and we'll see how you behave when I get back." Sasami closed the folders and walked away, thinking nothing odd of the entire incident. Nothing could really surprise her right now.  
  
"Well, Sasami? Have you made your decision?" Ayeka asked as she picked up the empty plate next to Sasami.  
  
"I think so," The blue haired girl sighed. "Hogwarts sounds like a great school, with such interesting teachers."  
  
"But..." Ayeka said patiently.  
  
"But it's so far away. And who will cook for Tenchi, and who will watch Ryo-ouki, and... and..."  
  
"Calm down Sasami." Ayeka smiled. "Leaving is always hard to do. But a learning experience like this is hard to come by. Noboyuki and Tenchi are both fine chefs. And we'll still see the others during Christmas and Summer vacations."  
  
"We?" Sasami asked confused.  
  
"Why, yes. I am coming too. You don't think I'd leave my sister on the other side of a planet, did you?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Besides, Proffessor Dumbledore has some plans that I might be a part of. We'll have to wait and see."  
  
"Miya!" Ryo-ouki exclaimed hopping up and down below them. Ayeka picked up the small cabbit and held her close.  
  
"I think Ryo-ouki wants to come too."  
  
"Yay! Thank you Ayeka!" Sasami cheered.  
  
"Now, let's go tell the others." Ayeka smiled and the three walked off together. They didn't notice the brochures in their folders. The Hogwarts one now read, "Sucker!" while the Urara titled "Go Saw Yourself."  
  
***  
  
Sasami and Ayeka walked nervously down the streets of London. Ayeka looked up at the sign post and then hastily back at the instructions she held in her hand.  
  
"No." She frowned. "It's definitely before this road. The Leaky Cauldron..." But as much as they looked up and down the street, they found no building of that name. Ryo-ouki peered out cautiously from the basket in Sasami's hands, and then ducked back in with a worried miya.  
  
"Excuse me, sir." Ayeka said in nervous English, catching the arm of a man passing by. "I'm looking for the, um... 'Leaky Cauldron?' It's a pub around here somewhere..."  
  
The man Ayeka unfortunately chose to talk to stared angrily at her. His bushy mustache trembled slightly as the large man bellowed.  
  
"Madam!" He roared. "If you are going to walk the streets of London, I suggest you dress like a proper Englishwoman! As for this 'Lai-eky Cawooldran'..." he said the last part in a cruel imitation of her accent. "... there is thankfully no such place on this street, or any near here. Dreadful sounding place anyway." With that the man stormed off, muttering something about foreigners.  
  
"How terribly rude." Ayeka growled. She rolled back one of her sleeves, preparing to teach the man some manners, but Sasami grabbed her arm and shook her head.  
  
"Your right, Sasami." Ayeka sighed. "I'm sure that man will get what he deserves later. WE need to find that pub."  
  
"Miya!" Ryo-ouki purred curiously, peering her head out of the basket. She gave a triumphant "Miya!" and bounded out of the basket and down the street.  
  
"No!" Sasami cried. "Ryo-ouki! Come back!" Sasami darted through the crowds after the bounding cabbit.  
  
Ryo-ouki continued to streak down the street. All of a sudden she came to a complete stop and Sasami nearly fell over her.  
  
"Ryo-ouki!" Sasami scolded. "You had me worried."  
  
"Sasami!" Ayeka came striding up behind her with many an "Excuse me" to those around her. "Thank goodness you found her. What if-oh!"  
  
"Oh what?" Sasami asked confused.  
  
"We're here." Ayeka stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"We're where?"  
  
Ayeka responded by pointing. There, directly infront of Ryo-ouki was a small run down old stone pub. A tattered old sign with rusty chains read "The Leaky Cauldron."  
  
"Um, are you sure this is it?" Sasami asked nervously. She wasn't quite sure what she was expecting it to look like, but she was pretty sure it was supposed to be more impressive than this.  
  
"It does look a bit shabby." Ayeka sighed. "But what choice do we have?" Taking a deep breath Ayeka pushed open the door and stepped inside.  
  
Sasami's nose was assaulted by strong, musty odor, which reminded her of mushrooms. The room was dusty and dark, lit only by small oil lamps on the tables which cast dim rainbow colored lights on the strangers that huddled close to them. Sasami gulped as a square jawed man wearing dark blue robes and a bowler hat returned his gaze to his drink, and she grabbed Ayeka's arm as a blind witch in purple robes and a hair net watched her with an eye carved out of ruby, set in her forehead.  
  
In one corner, a table stood out. This was because there were several silver balls of fire hovering above it, giving it much more light than the rest. Below these lights sat a number of figures. On one side sat a younger man and woman in matching apple green robes. The man had short black messy hair, and the woman had long shiny blonde hair pulled into a pony tail. Across from them sat an older woman dressed in emerald green robes and square glasses. Next to her sat an even older man dressed in maroon. He had long silver hair and a beard of matching length and half-moon glasses. Between the two pairs was a young girl about Sasami's age. She had black hair that flowed down her back, with a golden streak flowing from each of her temples. She wore simple black robes and a very bored expression.  
  
"Ahh, Miss Ayeka, I presume." The old man said, breaking into a wide smile. "Please, come. Sit down. And this must be the lady of the hour, Miss Sasami. Very pleased to meet you. I am Proffesor Albus Dumbledore."  
  
"Very pleased to meet you." Sasami said bowing her head.  
  
"Allow me to introduce Professor McGonagal. She is the head mistress of the Gryffindor House, and is the Professor Transfiguration."  
  
"It is very nice to meet you, Miss Jurai." McGonagal said eyeing her sternly. "Dumbledore has been talking about nothing else since you agreed to come."  
  
"Please, Professor. You'll make me blush. Oh, and these are the Kyran's, Alexander and Stelana. They are alumni from Hogwarts, who have generously offered to buy us drinks."  
  
"Wow!" Sasami said brightly, her fear subsiding with Dumbledore's friendly nature. "My name is Sasami. Which house were you in?"  
  
"I was in Ravenclaw." Stelana said warmly. "And Alexander was in Gryffindor. Right, Professor?"  
  
"Yes. And he was quite the trouble maker." McGonagal said glaringly. "I had to keep an eye on him almost as much as I did the Weasley twins. And there were two of them!"  
  
"All's well that ends well, I always say." Alexander laughed nervously. "Sasami. I'd like you to meet our daughter, Ambrosia. We're here to buy her supplies for school. She'll be starting this year, same as you."  
  
"Hi, pleased to meet you." Sasami said with another bow.  
  
"You Japanese bow a lot." Ambrosia said curtly. Stelana casually rapped her on the head with her knuckles.  
  
"Ambrosia! Behave!" Stelana said sharply  
  
"Sorry mother." Ambrosia sighed.  
  
"Well, I can see this is getting boring for you." Alexander said as he pulled out a pouch from the sleeve of his robe. He handed it to Ambrosia. "This should be enough to pay for all your supplies and a bit extra. Why don't you help Sasami get her supplies too."  
  
"Thanks dad!"  
  
"If you could hold off on Olivanders until the end, my dear Sasami, I'd much appreciate it. I would like to observe that very much." Dumbledore said with a wink.  
  
"Um, okay." Sasami said nervously, wondering what an "Olivander" was.  
  
"Take this card." Dumbledore said handing her a rose red card with the Hogwarts crest in green. "Show this to the vendors and they'll give you your purchases without money. Miss Ayeka and I will discuss later payment."  
  
"Gee, thanks."  
  
"Don't spend too much." Ayeka warned. "We don't have much money here. Don't worry about robes either. I'll handle that part. Just get your spellbooks and other supplies."  
  
"Alright, Oneesama." Sasami smiled.  
  
"Okay, we'll meet up at Olivanders at two. That should give you plenty of time to get your supplies." Stelana said sternly.  
  
"Okay, we'll be there." Ambrosia said anxiously, obviously wanting to leave.  
  
"Have fun kids." Alexander said brightly.  
  
"And Ambrosia?" Stelana called out.  
  
"Yes, mother?"  
  
"Don't do anything stupid."  
  
Ambrosia hung her head. "Yes, mother."  
  
***  
  
"I can't believe her!" Ambrosia fumed as they stepped into a grim alleyway in the back. "She acts like I have no common sense at all."  
  
"I'm sure she doesn't mean it like that, Ambrosia." Sasami said sympathetically.  
  
"I hate that name." Ambrosia muttered as she stood on tip toe and started tapping bricks on the wall. "It doesn't have enough flair for me. Some day I'll be the greatest sorceress of the century, and Ambrosia just won't cut it. Call me Mystara!" She said the last part with a bow, and right as she did the alleyway behind them opened into a large gateway.  
  
"Wow..." Sasami gasped. Before them stood a sprawling street filled with wizards and witches of all shapes and sizes, doing all sorts of wonderful things.  
  
"You know." A droll voice from behind them said. "Pretending that opening the door is anything spectacular is a pretty pathetic way to impress Muggles."  
  
Mystara's expression turned sour, and Sasami spun around to see who the newcomer was. Behind her stood two children, one boy, and one girl. Both of them had fair, angular features, creamy skin and silver hair. Sasami figured they were twins, and about her age, although they were tall for it.  
  
"Malicus." Mystara spat.  
  
"Ambrosia." The girl said with a sneer. Sasami noted that the boy was stoic and still, watching the events with all seeing eyes. He looked very proud, but cold. The girl didn't pull it off nearly as well. Her lip was pulled back into a sneer, and the pride came off as arrogance.  
  
"I hate that name." Mystara growled.  
  
"Then Ambrosia it is." She sneered. She looked over at Sasami and her kimono. "Apparently the local Muggles aren't enough. Now they're importing riffraff from across the world."  
  
"Quistis! Stop that." the boy snapped, his eyes lighting up as they narrowed, as if he were a robot toy that was just turned on. "Let's go."  
  
"Where are you going?" Mystara sneered back.  
  
"We must buy our robes." He stated coldly.  
  
"Good. We've already got that done. We'll go the other way."  
  
"Good-bye then, Miss Kendal."  
  
As the two groups passed eachother, the boy snatched Sasami's arm. Quistis and Mystara both turned to say something to him, but neither seemed to have the courage.  
  
"I apologize for my sister." He said softly. He said it without conviction or emotion, but as if it were a simple fact, and couldn't be refuted. "She takes after her mother. I like your robes." He released her arm and continued walking.  
  
Sasami blushed and when she turned around both he and his sister were gone.  
  
When she turned back she saw a very mad Mystara on the other side. "What did he say? Did he mutter any words you didn't know? If he tried a spell on you, I swear I'll..."  
  
"He didn't do anything." Sasami said hastily.  
  
"Damn Malicus's." Mystara swore as she led Sasami down the opposite direction. "Still think they're in the fourteenth century."  
  
"What's a Malicus?"  
  
"It's a wizarding family. THe oldest one that's still around today. They can trace their bloodline back fifteen generations and can link themselves to eight great wizards of older ages."  
  
"What difference does that make?" Sasami asked not quite understanding what she was talking about.  
  
"Not a thing, but the way they act, you'd think it meant everything. All they ever worry about is their precious family honor. But they've taken a lot of flak recently. Ever since You-Know-Who was killed."  
  
"Who?" Sasami asked.  
  
"The Malicus's. See he majorly-"  
  
"No, I mean, who is You-Know-Who?"  
  
Sasami knew immediately that she had said something wrong. Not only was Mystara looking at her like she was a ghost but so was everybody else on the street.  
  
Mystara glanced around suddenly aware of everybody. "Hey! What the hell are you guys staring at?" Giving them suspicious glances, the other people went back to their tasks.  
  
"I'll explain later. Right now I wanna show you something. Just hope they haven't closed for lunch yet."  
  
Sasami was amazed at everything she saw, and wanted to go for a closer look on many things, but Mystara kept dragging her this way and then that, talking about "the really interesting stuff."  
  
The "really interseting stuff" turned out to be a new looking building. The sign on it looked as if it had been painted over several times, but not very well. She could still see shadows of the old names. She couldn't make them out, although a lot seemed to start with the letter W.  
  
The current name was "The Firey Red Mirror." Directly below the name was a red tinted mirror, which rested above the door. Sasami stared at it curiously. Her pink reflection smiled and winked at her. Sasami started to giggle.  
  
"Don't look at the mirror." Mystara warned.  
  
"Why not?" Sasami said, looking away. But apparently it was too late. A moment later Sasami yelped in pain. Something had burned her foot. Glancing back at the mirror, she saw herself mischeviously blowing out a match.  
  
"That's why." Mystara said in an I-told-you-so voice, that she apparently got from her mother, as she stepped into the store. Sasami stamped out the smoke from her slipper and followed.  
  
Opening the door jingled a bell which released the smell and sound of a loud fart. Narrow aisles ran between large shelves of various things. Large rows of sweets lined one side, and another side had numerous stacks of wands.  
  
"Oi! Look who's here." A redheaded young man said, sticking his head out from a door in the back.  
  
"It's hold on..." Said another man who stepped out behind Sasami. For a moment, Sasami thought there was another mirror there, because he looked exactly the same. "What's her name now?"  
  
"It begins with an M, I think?" The first one said.  
  
"Magistra?"  
  
"Molly?"  
  
"McGonagall?"  
  
"That can't be it. She doesn't yell enough."  
  
"It's Mystara!" Mystara snapped.  
  
"Although she's got the lungs for it." The first twin said.  
  
"Oh knock it off, George."  
  
"Got it wrong again." He pointed to his name tag, which read "Fred."  
  
"So, welcome to the Red Mirror."  
  
"You guys really need to pick a name and stick with it." Mystara smirked.  
  
"Ahh, good idea." Fred said.  
  
"Astounding idea." George smiled.  
  
"Brilliant really."  
  
"You should try it too."  
  
"Oh shut up!" Mystara snorted.  
  
"Oi! Careful with that." George (at least she thought it was George since his name tag said so, but she could've sworn George was the one on the left) called out to Sasami, who was looking at some of the candy. So far she had seen Ton Tongue Toffee, Cannary Creams, Fickle Fudge, and Confusion Caramel. George took the candy she was currently examining out of her hands and back on the shelf. The label read "Bra-burster Bubble gum." "That's, ah, for older customers." George said turning slightly red. "Won't work unless both owner and recipient are over seventeen."  
  
"Lousy regulations." Fred snorted.  
  
"We had to crack down on it since Percy reported us. Wrote a letter and all, saying our 'vulgar and distasteful gags are giving England a disgraceful name across Europe.'"  
  
"Percy did not report you." Mystara sneered.  
  
"Did too!" Fred exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, we even framed it." George said, pointing to a paper on the wall, where a parchment hung with the words "Cease and Desist" written across it in gold letters.  
  
"There is a fine line between crass humor and just plain bad taste." George (wait, wasn't the other one George?) said.  
  
"And we walk that line every waking minute." Fred(?) finished. At this point Sasami stopped trying to keep the name straight and started thinking of them as Left twin and Right twin.  
  
"When we're asleep we're all over the place." Right twin said with a wicked grin.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud explosion from the back room. Two strange brightly colored people came flying through the wall laughing. Spotting Sasami and Mystara they started tossing fake wands at them.  
  
"Oi! Stop it." Left twin yelled. "You're wasting products!"  
  
"At this rate we'll have to spend all our time cleaning up instead of working on the explosive chocolate." Right twin sighed.  
  
At once the two strange men looked horrified and started hastily gathering up the former wands, which were now rubber chickens and licorish, and fire crackers and so forth.  
  
"Best not to be around for a bit." Left twin said. The twins led Sasami and Mystara out the front door and put up a closed for lunch sign, which glued your nostrils shut if you read it.  
  
"What were those?" Sasami asked, her heart thumping.  
  
"Our poltergiests." Right twin said. "Eager enough for the job and work for props. Very cheap. The promise of explosive chocolate is all that keeps 'em in line."  
  
"What happens when you make the chocolate?" Mystara asked.  
  
"Oh, that's the beauty of it. We gave up on that one weeks ago." Left twin laughed.  
  
"Chocolate has mild healing properties. Makes exploding tricky. Too little explosive magic and the chocolate will cure itself. Too much and it becomes volatile. There's no middle ground."  
  
"But the poltergiests don't know that."  
  
"Now, the exploding sugar sticks, those are coming along nicely."  
  
"Anyway, we have to be off. Meeting a new vendor for lunch. But thought we'd give you this for street testing." Left twin tossed a pack of silver-tipped matches to Mystara. "These are Itch&Burn Matches. Combines a hot foot and itching powder. And it can be used from fifty paces away. Just light the match and hold it infront of you so you can see your victim's foot through the fire."  
  
"Cool." Mystara said, smiling evilly.  
  
"Well, have fun." Left twin smiled.  
  
"Gotta run." Right twin smiled.  
  
Sasami watched the twins walk off laughing and plotting together. "Those guys are wierd."  
  
"They're the coolest thing to come out of Hogwarts." Mystara laughed.  
  
***  
  
A little while later, Sasami found herself sitting in a cafe known as the Open Kettle. Sasami was a bit iffy as she looked down the menu. She was not used to English food, so she couldn't decide what to get. Finally she ordered the one thing that sounded remotely familiar: Curry Chicken Salad, with a side of chips. Mystara ordered a roast beef sandwich.  
  
It turned out a little different than Sasami had expected. First of all it was a sandwich. And the "chips" turned out to be french fries. She eyed the sandwich nervously, but not wanting to send it back, she took a bite. It wasn't bad, so she continued eating. Mystara on the other hand, sent her sandwich back no less than three times before she was satisfied.  
  
"So," Mystara said between bites. "You've never heard of You-know-who?"  
  
"Uh-uh." Sasami said glumly, feeling very embarassed.  
  
"Man, Dumbledore said that Jurai was remote but I'd of thought you'd at least know about him."  
  
Sasami dropped her french fry. "He-he told you about Jurai?"  
  
Amborsia yawned. "Yeah. Some small country off of Japan. Pretty isolated. Said that you guys use magic slightly differently."  
  
"Yeah, something like that." Sasami said, staring intently at her sandwich.  
  
"Anyway, awhile ago, like forty years ago, this guy comes to power. Real nasty wizard named Voldemorte, only nobody called him Voldemorte 'cuz everybody was afraid of him. So they called him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Still do infact."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Cuz they're scared. See, about twenty years ago, he got beaten. Beat real bad. By a baby no less. Harry Potter. You have heard of Harry Potter, right?"  
  
Sasami started counting sesami seeds on her bun.  
  
"Geez, anyway, he comes to kill this kid right, and something goes wrong. Still not public knowledge what really happened. And everybody thought he was dead. But he wasn't. He kept trying to come back, and Harry kept stopping him. Until three years ago when he actually pulled it off. Things got real dark and the wizarding world went into a war until Harry beat him again, this time for good."  
  
"Wow." Sasami was amazed. Then a thought occured to her. "What does that have to do with the Malicus's?"  
  
Mystara scowled at the mention of their name. "Oh, right them. Well, you see, Voldemorte liked power but he liked purebloods almost as much. Y'know, purebloods, somebody who has all wizard blood in 'em. Which is odd, cuz he was half muggle himself. Anyway, after he was defeated for the final time there was a shift in power. The people who supported Dumbledore and Harry Potter took most of the power, with Arthor Muggle-lover Weasley becoming Minister of Magic. Basically a lot of important people started followin him and denouncin' the concept of pureblood being better than most blood. Naturally the Malicus's were a prime target. They're even more high and mighty than the Malfoy's."  
  
Sasami was starting to get the feeling that the wizarding world was a lot more complicated than she had thought it would be, and she hadn't even begun to learn magic.  
  
***  
  
Sasami's mood brightened as they explored Diagon Alley. They went to the Owlery where Mystara, after looking disappointedly at the subtle colorings of the owls, finally bought a large snowy owl, complaining about how you couldn't buy any exotic birds like the ones that delivered mail in the south. Then they picked up their cauldrons, and gloves and telescopes. They passed the Quidditch shop to look at brooms where they overheard three older boys talking.  
  
"All I'm saying, is that it doesn't seem quite fair." Said the first boy, a lean figure with a handsome face, short brown hair, and fierce brown eyes. "I mean, all the players work hard but half the time all they do is worthless. Cutting the points sounds fair to me."  
  
"Bah." snuffed the second boy, who's creamy skin and silver hair clearly marked him as a Malicus. "It's the way things are. The Snitch has always been worth one hundred and fifty points. You can't just change it because some players are tired of the Seekers drawing a bigger crowd."  
  
"Look." The third boy yawned, his shaggy, dull red hair nearly covering his sleepy eyes. "Why don't we just have two snootchers? One for the Seekers and one for the rest. "  
  
"It's snitch, Pete." The first boy sighed. "And that doesn't make any sense."  
  
"Once Harry Potter says something this debate will be over." Mystara butted in knowingly.  
  
"He already has." The Malicus said eyeing her like an unwanted vermin. "He's said that no matter which way the decision goes he's asking all the players not to strike. The point of the game is to play."  
  
"Oh." Mystara said, not like being outdone. "Well, I hope they chose to lower the score." she stuck out her tongue at the Malicus as she pulled Sasami down the street.  
  
***  
  
Mystara grumbled the rest of the way to Florish and Blotts, so Sasami never got a chance to ask more about Harry Potter playing Quidditch, or about Quidditch in general. Once they got to Florish and Blotts, her questions were washed away in awe. Thousands of books were piled every which way. Some books were so large that two people would have to work together to read them, and a giant would be needed to carry it. Others were so small they could be lost in your pocket. While Sasami was trying to get to a book called "Benevolent Mystic Fauna," she tripped over what appeared to be nothing.  
  
"Don't move!" Cried the owner as he vaulted over the counter and raced towards Sasami at a speed that a man his age shouldn't be able to reach. Sasami froze in terror as he felt around and drew a circle on the carpet with his wand. "Finally! The Invisible Books of Invisibility! I've found them!" And he went racing into the back room leaving Sasami and Mystara alone.  
  
But they weren't completely alone. Among the books was a rather attractive blonde man. He would have been dashing if it weren't for the look of confusion which seemed permanently plastered to his face. The end result was he looked more like a lost golden retriever than anything else.  
  
"Hello." He smiled at them. "Have you been helped?"  
  
"Uh, no." Mystara said. "Hey! I know who you are! You're Lockehart!"  
  
"Am I? Oh, yes, I am. Thank you for reminding me. Have you been helped?"  
  
"No, not yet. But we'll handle ourselves." Mystara sweated. Then she whispered to Sasami. "Lockhart was a big name, until it was revealed that all he ever did was steal credit from others. He ended up blasting himself with a memory charm. Apparently it did some permanent damage. Let's try to find our books and get out of here."  
  
"Hai!" Sasami said brightly and the two girls split up to find their books.  
  
It took them awhile but eventaully they found all the books they needed. Lockhart helped by bringing whatever book they had found two minutes ago.  
  
"There." Mystara said, dumping "One hundred Herbs and Fungi" on top of their pile. "Now all we need is..." She looked hastily at her sheet. "'How to Viscerate Vampires' by Proffesor Van Helsing."  
  
"Oh! I think I saw that!" Sasami said and she bound off for the darker section of the book store. She came to a halt when she got there. What was an orderly if somewhat jumbled row of books was now a complete maelstrom of chaos dumped on the floor. An old man in a tattered, filthy trenchcoat was frantically pulling books off shelves, looking in them and then tossing them on the floor. "No, that's not it either!" He said franctically.  
  
"Um, sir, are you okay." Sasami asked, wondering where he came from. Tentatively, she tugged on his trench coat. This turned out to be a mistake.  
  
Faster than lightning the man spun around. Sasami found herself painfully pressed against the uneven wall of books. He pinned her there with an arm. In the hand was a wooden Stake with a razor sharp tip. His other hand reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a small metal mallet.  
  
"Thought you could catch me! I'll stop ya! I'll stop you all!" He said desperately, his eyes darting everywhere.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" Mystara yelled, hurling a book at the old man.  
  
"You can't stop me! I've defeated stronger vampires than you!" He yelled threatening Sasami. Sasami was too scared to even cry. It felt like this was happening to somebody else. As if she was only watching.  
  
"You old goat!" Mystara yelled. "We're not vampires! We're kids! Now put her down you old pervert!"  
  
The man, shaking fiercely, looked back at Sasami, staring harshly with his beady eyes.  
  
"Please let me go." Sasami heard herself ask calmly.  
  
Slowly, the man lowered his arm, and Sasami fell to the ground. "Then you are students?!" He asked suddenly full of energy again. He lurched forward with a limp and Sasami noticed that he only had one leg, the other being carved out of wood. "Than you must tell Dumbledore! Tell him to be careful! There is a horrible plot! I tried to stop it, but I couldn't! Dumbledore must stop him! He will not kill anybody, but everybody will die!"  
  
"Stop who?" Mystara asked, stepping over to stand protectively next to Sasami, who was gasping for breath.  
  
The old man opened his mouth to say something, but paused half way through. Then, suddenly, he fell backwards into a large pile of books.  
  
"Crap!" Mystara yelled. "He looks sick. We gotta do something!" Suddenly, she spun around as a shadow fell over them.  
  
"Hello. Have you been helped?" Lockhart said with a confused smile.  
  
***  
  
After a very exasperating conversation (two of them actually), Sasami and Mystara left the old man with Lockhart. They also left him a note that said "Don't let him die." in case he forgot. Then they raced into the back room looking for the owner.  
  
The backroom must've been one large warehouse style room, but now it was a maze of smaller rooms, with huge stacks of books forming walls. Some of the "rooms" held boxes of quills, or ink, or cleaning equiptment. Mystara wanted to split up, but Sasami was afraid she'd get lost if they did.  
  
Finally, they ran into the owner, as he was coming out of one of the rooms (this one complete with a giant tome which made a kind of door). He was holding a small bottle of crystal clear ink. "Ahh, wisp-out! Now I'll -hey! What are you doing back here! This is off limits to customers.  
  
"You have to come quick! There's a man outside who tried to kill me because he thought I was a vampire and then he warned us to help Dumbledore, and then he fainted and you have to help!" Sasami said very quickly. The old man stared oddly at her and she realized, in her haste, she had reverted to Japanese.  
  
"What my friend is trying to say is some old guy fell down in your store and we think he needs help." Mystara frowned.  
  
"Out of the way." The man grumbled as if they were slowing him down. He sped down the maze with confidence and Sasami and Mystara were racing to keep up with his long strides. Shortly they burst out into the empty bookstore. They turned the corner to find Lockhart reading a book. "Hello." He said cheerfully.  
  
"ALright, I've seen enough." The shopkeeper said darkly. "I'd like you to pay for your books and leave now."  
  
"But-" Sasami started.  
  
"I know that Lockhart did some pretty rotten stuff in his day, but he's paid for it. Making fun of his... condition, is just bad taste." The man fumed.  
  
"But we're telling the truth!" Mystara cried with conviction. "Lockhart! Tell him!"  
  
"Tell him what?"  
  
"About the man."  
  
"What man?"  
  
"The old vampire hunter."  
  
"What old vampire hunter?"  
  
"Dammit, Lockhart! We gave you a note!"  
  
"You did?" He asked surprised. He patted his pockets. "I seem to have misplaced it."  
  
"But we did..." She pleaded as the man counted out their books. He held out his hand expectingly. Mystara sighed and counted out the money. When Sasami handed him her card, he looked at it mistrustingly, tapped it with his wand, which made it glow, and then handed it back. He seemed surprised, and disappointed, that it had glowed like it was supposed to.  
  
"Now leave." He said in a voice which clearly said that he would not tell them again.  
  
The two girls left, feeling guilty for reasons they didn't quite get.  
  
Guilt didn't come natural to Mystara, and it didn't stick either. "I don't believe that! Who does he think he is?!" She fumed.  
  
Sasami didn't say anything. She had a better question though. They had only been in the back for five minutes. How did a sick old man with a horrible limp and a wooden leg disappear like that?  
  
***  
  
They left Flourish and Blotts in a rather different mood. Mystara was ranting about old men playing twisted jokes as they entered Malvin's Mysterious Magic Supplies, but Sasami became quiet and withdrawn, mulling over the events, and pondering what could have happened. How did he just up and leave? Sasami couldn't fight a sinking suspicion that he didn't leave on his own accord. Who was he, and what was he looking for in the Dark Arts section? Whatever it was, he appeared to be in a hurry to find it.  
  
Sasami was so lost in thought that she bumped into somebody while collecting beetle eyes.  
  
"Gomen Na-" Sasami's apology caught in her throat as she looked at the man she bumped into. He was tall, dark and sallow. Greasy black hair framed a yellow face with black eyes that stared malevolently past a hawk-like nose at her.  
  
"Why don't you watch where you are going." He hissed before brushing violently past her towards the counter.  
  
"I think we've found our victim." Mystara said in a voice filled with equal parts vengence and mischief.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sasami asked. Mystara held up the silver tipped Itch&Burn matches. "Oh, no. Please, let's just go."  
  
"Nonsense. We're champions of justice." Mystara said, lighting a match and holding it up.  
  
The greasy haired man was placing his supplies (which were much fancier and more expensive than the stuff that Sasami and Mystara had to buy) into his cauldron when it happened. He winced and staggered, spilling out a bag of dragon scales, and dropping a jar of salamander blood, which shattered on the floor.  
  
The man spun and leveled a hate-filled gaze at Sasami and Mystara. He stepped over the wall of fire that the salamander blood made, stopping only briefly to clap out a bit of fire on his robe. He continued his vile march towards them.  
  
"Professor Snape!" a familiar voice called out. The three looked to the side to see one of the Weasley twins walking towards them. "Are you alright?" He said with a level of concern which would have sounded sincere if it had come from anybody but him.  
  
"Weasley!" The man, Snape, seethed. Mystara looked worriedly at him.  
  
"The two and only." Said the other twin as he brushed past Mystara. "Anything damaged?" He asked with a similar level of "concern."  
  
"These two have just cost me a lot in rare spell components." Snape sneered. "Out of the way."  
  
"Actually, that was us, I'm afraid." Said the first twin.  
  
"Testing a new device." Said the second twin, holding up the burnt match that Mystara was holding a moment ago. "Fraid it got a bit out of control. Maybe you could grant us your advanced knowledge in components?" He said offering him the match.  
  
Snape stared at him for a moment. An inner war between his ego and his desire not to help people like the Weasely twins (or anybody at all) seemed to be raging in his eyes. Ultimately his ego won out by offering the advice in form of criticism.  
  
"You obviously used Silver Magnesinite. Anybody knows that Silver MagnesinATE will give you a much higher accuracy and will be less likely to go off randomly." He sneered tossing the match onto the floor.  
  
"Brilliant." The first Weasley said. "It's cheaper too. We'll earn an extra galleon per box."  
  
"Then perhaps you can repay me for my lost supplies." Snape scowled at them, gesturing to the mess behind him.  
  
"Oh, no problem." Said the second twin, taking out his wand. "Inversicronos!" He called, gesturing his wand. There was a loud quack and the wand became a wooden duck. "George! Now is not the time!"  
  
"I slipped that to you hours ago. Is it my fault you just noticed? I'll get it." He pulled out his wand and, after testing to see if it was a real wand, (It wasn't, so he replaced it.) gestured swiftly. "Inversicronos!" The scales flew back into the back, the fires died down and the blood jumped back into the air as the glass reformed around it. George deftly caught it and handed it back to Snape. "Good as new."  
  
"Interesting spell." Snape said grimly, most likely disappointed that he couldn't make the Weasley twins pay him. "Good for covering your own backs, eh?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Fred said. "All our proto-types have a temporal safety catch on then. For... just such an emergency."  
  
Snape snatched the ingrediants from the twins and stuffed them in his cauldron. Then stormed out of the place muttering under his voice.  
  
Fred and George watched Snape walk away. Sasami and Mystara glanced at eachother but didn't say anything. Finally Fred and George turned to them.  
  
"You two are lucky we saw you when we did." Fred said with an unusual level of seriousness in his tone.   
  
"That was Professor Snape." George said sternly. "Not somebody you want mad at you before school has even started."  
  
"Where are you two heading next?" Fred asked.  
  
"Well, that's everything but our wands. Dumbledore asked us to do them last. We should get over to Olivander's before we get in trouble."  
  
"Alright, we'll walk you there. It's on our way. We have a business proposal for you. A way to pay us back for saving your skins."  
  
Sasami wasn't sure she liked where this was heading, but she didn't see having a choice. She fell in behind the twins.  
  
"Now we're not asking much." George said. "We just want you to deliver this." He tossed Mystara a long, silver package.  
  
"What's this?" Mystara asked skeptically.  
  
"Ah, that's the surprise." George said. "We want you to give that to a house elf named Dobby. There will be instructions for him inside. But you must not open it. That could ruin everything."  
  
"It's too bad, really." Fred sighed. "It would've been great."  
  
"Huh?!" Mystara said surprised. "What do you mean 'would've?' Why won't it be?"  
  
"Well, I'm rather accelled in divinations." Fred explained in another exasperated sigh. "And just last night, I happen to see that Mystara will indeed open the box. Such a shame." He hung his head, closing his eyes. One eye flashed a glance at Sasami. She only had a moment to try to figure out the meaning of the glance before the eye was closed again.  
  
"Oh dear." George moaned, with a slightly more defined wink, again in Sasami's direction. "What should we do."  
  
"As Trelawny would say, one must pretend one does not have the inner eye. We should give her the box anyway."  
  
Mystara, who had not seen the glance or the wink looked outraged. "I don't care what you saw in your stupid tea leaves or crystal ball. I'm not going to open your stupid box."  
  
"I'm sure you won't." Fred said in a very humoring tone. "But it really is too bad."  
  
"Didn't you hear me." Mystara snapped. "I said-"  
  
"Oi, Fred!" George said, ignoring Mystara. "Check her out."  
  
"Who?" Fred asked glancing around.  
  
"The girl over there with the long hair."  
  
"Now, that's not a color found in nature." Fred whistled. Sasami and Mystara were trying to see who they were talking about, but while Fred and George towered over the crowds, Sasami and Mystara had the distinct disadvantage of being several heads shorter.  
  
"Man, those are some pretty exotic robes."  
  
"Don't show off much, do they?"  
  
"On her, they don't need to."  
  
"Quiet. She's coming this way."  
  
"Stick close to the kids. Girls like her love guys who like children."  
  
"I'm not a kid." Mystara fumed. But then the crowd parted and they turned to see who the girl was.  
  
"That's my sister!" Sasami cried indignantly. Indeed, there was Ayeka with Dumbledore and the Kyrans behind her.   
  
Ayeka turned at Sasami's call. "Ahh, there you are. Right on time." She smiled. "Did you have fun shopping."  
  
"Uh-huh." Sasami beemed. George coughed audibly. "Oh, these are my new friends. This one's Fred and this one's George."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Fred bowed.  
  
"An honor really." George said shoving Fred to the side.  
  
"Well, I must thank you both for looking after Sasami." Ayeka said with a deep bow.  
  
"It was nothing, really." Fred said, elbowing George back.  
  
"Gum?" George offered, stepping back in front of Fred. Sasami's immediate response was to step on George's foot.  
  
"No thank you." Ayeka said, a little taken back by the twins' odd behavior. "Shall we go in then?"  
  
"Can't." Stelana said elbowing through the crowd, with Alexander walking in her wake. "Ollivander isn't back from lunch yet. It's odd, because he's always been so punctual."  
  
"Speaking of odd, what happened to Dumbledore?" Alexander said, peering through the crowd.  
  
Fred and George, being a good head taller than most of the crowd, glanced around. "Oy! There he is." Fred yelled, and George waved.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore smiled. "What a pleasant surprise. This way, Mr. Ollivander."  
  
It was then that Sasami saw that Dumbledore was leading a withered old man. Though not as old as Dumbledore, he had aged less well, and Sasami had the feeling that even during his prime, this man was not a very healthy specimen. Now, he reminded her of a spider. But what drew her attention the most was his eyes.  
  
While Sasami was polite enough not to say anything, Mystara was never known for tact.  
  
"Woah! He's blind!" Mystara yelled, which was punctuated by a very loud rap of Stelana's knuckles on her head.  
  
"Apologize." Stelana said sternly.  
  
"Sorry, mother." Mystara muttered sullenly.  
  
"Not to me." Stelana sighed. "To Mr. Ollivander."  
  
"I'm sorry for saying you were blind, Mr. Ollivander."  
  
"Hmm?" Ollivander turned his milky white eyes to gaze in Mystara's general direction. "Nothing to be sorry for, child. I am indeed blind."  
  
"Yeah, that's why I..." Mystara trailed off at her mother's stare.  
  
Ollivander didn't seem to notice, because he was still rambling on. "No, who should be sorry are those fools who think that just because I'm blind, I can't run a business. As if eyesight has anything to do with the fine craftsmanship of wandmaking. No, it is much more of a hands-on craft. Bah. They'll be sorry they messed with Ollivander's. Especially, them!" And he gestured across the street menacingly with his walking cane.  
  
"How did Mongo's Muggle Munchies hurt you?" Sasami asked confused.  
  
"What? No, not them. THEM!" And he swung his cane over until it pointed more-or-less at Wally's Wind-up Gizmo-drakes.  
  
"I believe you mean, that one?" Dumbledore said, nudging his cane a bit to the left, so it rested at the building between the earlier two. Below the fairies forming the words "GRAND OPENING!" was the sign "Wondrous Spellrods. Bringing new style and technique to the ancient art of wand making."  
  
"Yes, that's them! Bah. Fools. The old ways work best. Their 'new style and techniques' are nothing but a bunch of hoopla and flashy spells. Mark my words."  
  
"Calm yourself, Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore said calmly. "Remember what the healers said about your stress levels? I wouldn't want to have to cast a cheering charm on you in the middle of the street."  
  
"Ah, yes, you're right, old friend." Ollivander muttered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late to reopen my shop."  
  
Ollivander hobbled forward on his cane, and then fumbled for the doorknop, missing it twice before finally grasping it and wrenching the door open. The bell chime sounded like wind whipping through a mountain canyon.  
  
There was an incredible change in Mr. Olivander the moment he stepped over the threshhold. He stood straight, and walked with confidence. His cane, no longer needed, was deftly tossed to the side, landing perfectly in a stone wizard's waiting hands. He walked with purpose in his step, and if he still looked like a spider, which he did, it was a spider all the more confident for being on it's own web.  
  
"I shall warn both of you Weasleys," Olivander said as he gestured with his wand, lighting several old fashion oil lamps, who's weak flames burned feebly against the darkness. "That if I catch either of you trying to interfere with my business with those wretched faux wands of yours, I will make sure you regret it."  
  
Sasami turned to see Fred drop a lid back onto a wand box, and George hastily shove something back into his robes.  
  
"I still remember when you first came in, nine years ago. Parents as poor as could be, but I cut them a good deal. Could only afford one wand for the two of you. Ash, ten inches, with a dragon heartstring; good for enchantments. Don't think you're any better in my book, just because you have money. Bah, poverty suited you better."  
  
"All the same, I think I prefer my new suit." Fred said, brushing his silk robes. "It not as tight around the neck."  
  
"It doesn't itch as much either." George added.  
  
"Bah, why am I wasting time on wretched brats like you." Olivander said turning to the Kyrans. "It is a pleasure to greet you again, your-"  
  
"It's good to see you again too, Olivander." Stelana cut him off, curt as ever.  
  
"Of course. And you too, Mr. Kyran. I haven't seen you since the wedding. Imagine, a trouble maker like you marrying-"  
  
"I think I should be offended." Alexander said with unusual tension in his voice. "But it's an old Kyran saying, 'only a fool offends a wand-maker.' We are here for Ambrosia's wand, of course."  
  
"Ahh, of course. Let me find my tape measure." And Olivander shuffled into the back. Dumbledore conjured up some chairs for them, and poured tea.  
  
While drinking tea, Sasami noticed two things. The first was that a figure was watching them from some of the far too numerous shadows in the corners of the room. Although she couldn't see his eyes, she had the feeling he was watching her. His face occasionally flicked down to write something on a parchment.  
  
The second thing she noticed was that European tea tasted a lot different than Japanese tea.  
  
"Ah ha." Olivander said, returning with a battered old tape measure. "Now, where are those new wands? Wilfred!" He called out. "Where is that blasted boy!"  
  
"Here I am, Uncle." The man said as he stepped out of the shadows. Sasami gasped. He was tall and slender, with shining blue eyes, and soft, handsome features. The way he was slinking about, she was expecting him to look a lot shiftier.  
  
"Slacking off again, Wilfred?" Olivander sneered.  
  
"No, Uncle. Here are the new wands." He said offering him three slender boxes. The blind man took out the wands and tapped, stroked, and sniffed each one.  
  
"You fool. I told you to use elm for the unicorn tail, not oak!"  
  
"The delivery information was wrong, Uncle." Wilfred said, with witheld indignance. "The unicorn hair was a good three inches longer than we ordered, and the elm fitting was too short for it. Besides, elm gets tempermental when you make it that long."  
  
"I am the master here, boy. You are still my apprentice. You should have waited."  
  
"Uncle, I've been studying wands for six years now, and working on them for two. I can handle a couple decisions."  
  
"You are a fool. You spent all that time dreaming up new and useless wand recipes. Now sit still and watch and you might actually get some real information in your head. I think we should cut to the chase. Sasami, up here, if you please." He gestured to a platform. "Now, let's see if we can match a wand for you."  
  
Sasami gulped and stepped up onto the platform.  
  
"Wand arm out, please." Olivaner said casually, as he unfurled the odd tape measure.  
  
Sasami glanced nervously at the others. Ayeka gave her a warm smile, while Dumbledore nodded reassuringly. Alexander gave her a thumbs-up while Stelana just watched impassively with her calculating eyes. Fred and George tried to lighten the mood by making faces at Olivander, who, being blind, had no idea what was so funny.  
  
Mystara had the reaction Sasami was looking for. She winked and taped her right wrist twice. Sasami smiled in thanks and held out her right arm. Olivander started measuring her arm as he droned on about wands in a raspy voice.  
  
"Always remember that the wand choses the wizard, and not the other way around." Olivander said as he stepped away and rummaged through some brail marked books. To Sasami's surprise the tape measure continued to measure various odd lengths on her by itself. It tickled and Sasami had to hold her breath to make sure she didn't mess up any measurements.  
  
Olivander returned with a book as the tape measure was taking Sasami's blood pressure. He snapped and the tape measure coiled up and leapt into his outstretched hand. He paused for a second, then lightly touched Sasami's forehead.  
  
"Oh, and what is this mark?" He said curiously.  
  
"It's my birthmark." Sasami said, uncomfortably.  
  
"Ahh, of course." Olivander said, slowly drawing his hand away. "Well, now let's see..." Olivander's face fell as he held the tape measure up to a blind eye.  
  
"Uncle." Wilfred sighed holding up a similar, but less tattered tape measure. "You're supposed to use the new tape measure, remember?"  
  
Olivander grumbled and handed the tape measure to Wilfred, who dutifully read off a list of odd numbers in a variety of languages.  
  
"That can't be right." Olivander muttered. "You're reading the markings wrong."  
  
"You're the one who took the measurements, Uncle."  
  
"Bah, you're reading it wrong. I'll have to take them again." And so Sasami had to hold still as Olivander took the measurements again with the new tape measure. Once he was done, the tape measure folded into his hand and spouted out a series of numbers, exactly what Wilfred had said last time.  
  
"How curious." Olivander muttered. "Such strange measurements. Well, we'd best get started. Wilfred, go get me wands D14 through L25 and O5 through Q9."  
  
Wilfred fingered something in his robe then sighed. "Yes, Uncle."  
  
Olivander cleaned up the tea while they waited. Sasami tried to help, but Mr. Olivander just shooed her out of the way.  
  
A moment later, a large pile of boxes wandered in. The oak brown robe beneath it, sliding quickly across the cluttered floor, told Sasami that it was Wilfred, and that he, like his uncle was as comfortable in a wand shop as a spider on a web, even if he couldn't see. He even managed to dodge Fred's outstretched leg.  
  
"Here are the wands you requested, Uncle. But if I-"  
  
"Thank you." Olivander said, taking a portion of the wand boxes and putting them on a spindly little table."  
  
"Uncle," Wilfred said, placing down the rest of the boxes. "I was wondering if we might try-"  
  
"That tempermental piece of kindling? Forget it!   
  
Sasami watched a dark metamorphosis wash over Wilfred, twisting his handsome features into an angry snarl. He composed himself a second later, although he still glared at Olivander as he stepped into the shadows which hung around the light like hungry dogs.  
  
"Now," Olivander said, rubbing his hands together, "Let's find this lady her wand. Try this one. Eleven inches, oak, with a phoenix feather core, good for hexing. Just a flick will do."  
  
To say that simply nothing happened would be an understatement, because it wasn't a simple nothing. It was a great and resounding Nothing, a Nothing which echoed off the walls and left everybody with the definite knowledge that whatever was supposed to happen, this was the absolute zero of it. The Nothing was so great that it leaked out the door and convinced a man and his son, both of whom were about to enter, that there was Nothing going on inside, and they went across the street.  
  
Fortunately blind Olivander had no idea of this lost business, or else Dumbledore would have had to cast a cheering charm on him then and there.  
  
Sasami could have used a cheering charm, as things went from bad to worse. She tried wand after wand and was met with failure after failure. Some gave her horrible splinters, which Wilfred or Stelana would remove with a pinsair charm, but most would have nothing to do with her. They would become too slippery or too heavy for her to hold, or leap out of her hand like a chocolate frog, or else shoot away from her touch like magnets. She was lucky if simply nothing happened, although great Nothings happened twice more, causing a member of the Diagon Alley Board of Commerce to come by to make sure everything was on the up and up.  
  
The worst was difinitely the yew wand, eight inches, with a dragon hearstring core (good for transfigurations) which exploded in a great ball of fire. In a heartbeat Dubmledore was on his feet, his wand out, and Sasami was covered in sea green sparkles, which put out the flame. The only damage she took was some mild burns on her hands, which Stelana and Alexander bandaged, and then left to get some burn salve from the apothecary down the street.  
  
George and Fred were meanwhile scrambling around casting Flames Be Gone hexes on the piles of burning wand boxes. Fortunately, they managed to prevent any damage to the wands inside. It was one of the few truly selfless acts the twins had ever done. Mostly because Olivander had ordered them so quickly that they didn't have time to think. They got back at him though, by slipping a fake wand to him, which he then gave to Sasami. Mystara howled with laughter as Olivander chased the twins around the shop, but Sasami didn't laugh. She just stared at the paper rose in her hand. For a brief instant, a fraction of a blink of an eye, she had thought she had finally done magic.  
  
Cautiously she glanced over at Dumbledore. The emergency over, he had returned to staring at her with an impassive gaze that was impossible to read. He had been watching her like that the entire time. Sasami could feel a lump form in her throat as she pictured what would happen next. Dumbledore was going to say that there was a mistake, that clearly she wasn't a witch and ask her to leave. Sasami fought the tears building up in her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of Mystara, but it wasn't fair! She had always dreamed of magic and here it was right in front of her and it was about to be taken away.  
  
Dumbledore stirred in his seat, and Sasami closed her eyes, knowing he was about to speak.  
  
"Olivander," Dumbledore said solemnly. Sasami choked back a sob. "I think it's time we got back to measuring wands. I am a busy man."  
  
Olivander shook his fist at the twins, but then returned to Sasami. He rummaged around for another wand to try, but there were none left.  
  
"Wilfred." Olivander muttered. "Go get the wands from storage room four."  
  
"Certainly, Uncle." Wilfred said, stepping out of the shadows. The resentment on his face was replaced with an out-of-place eagerness. "I'll need the key."  
  
Olivander pulled out a giant, old-fashion, rustry bronze key. He held it out for a bit, but then he must have decided he didn't like the eagerness in Wilfred's voice, because he thrust it back into his pocket and said, "On second thought, I'll get it. There might be some wands in storage room six that I'd like to try as well. Just watch the shop."  
  
Wilfred watched his uncle leave with anxiety. The moment he closed the basement door, Wilfred spun around and stared fixedly at Sasami.  
  
"If you'll excuse my boldness, Miss Sasami, I have a wand I'd like you to try."  
  
"But I've tried all the ones here." Sasami said, looking worriedly at the large pile of slightly burned boxes.  
  
"Not all of them." Wilfred smiled as he pulled out a long slender box from his robes. It was made of highly polished oak with silver inlays, shaped like vines, wrapping all around it. The hinges were shaped like leaves, and the latch was an intricate silver rose.  
  
Sasami held her breath. Ayeka fidgetted slightly, while Mystara got out of her chair to look over Sasami's shoulder. Even Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat, though his eyes remained unreadable. Fred and George took the oppurtunity to unload a bunch of fake wands in various places while no one was looking.  
  
Carefully, Wilfred touched on side of the rose with his finger, then the other side, muttering something so quietly that Sasami could barely even hear it. It sounded something like "starshine."  
  
Slowly the box opened. Sasami caught the scent of cherries. Inside the box, resting in velvet, was a long, red-brown wand.  
  
"Cherrywood, thirteen inches." Wilfred said, picking up the wand gently with his fingertips. "It's core is the tear of a dryad. Very good for healing and protective spells." He offered the wand handle first to Sasami, as if it were a sword.  
  
"Hold on," Mystara said, stepping in front of Sasami. "Is this the 'tempermental piece of kindling' Olivander mentioned? Cuz in case you haven't noticed, wands seem to be a bit picky about Sasami."  
  
Sasami blushed bright red but Wilfred didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Trust my uncle to jump to conclusions where I'm involved. It is true, the wand has refused to work for anybody who's tried it so far, but that's because it's shy rather than tempermental."  
  
"But why would it work for me?" Sasami asked. Mystara was still in front of her, so she had to peer out from under one of the taller girl's arms.  
  
"See, I believe there is a better way to match wizards to wands than by educated guesses based off of measurements. By watching a person for awhile, I can try to match a wand to them based on their personality compared to the druidic interpretations of the property of the wood, and the alchemical interpretations of the core. And Sasami matches the wand perfectly. She even matches it's length, arithmantically speaking."  
  
Sasami didn't like the idea of being matched to the number thirteen, arithmantically or otherwise. On the other hand, she really wanted to try that wand.  
  
"I am curious," Dumbledore spoke, causing everybody to jump, and Fred to drop what was now a plastic lobster on his head. "How you managed to get a dryad tear for the core of that wand?"  
  
"A Dryad's tear is made of tree sap, not salt water like most creatures." Wilfrd explained. "So I used a pressure hex to fossilize it into a shard of amber, which provided the solidity required for a reliable wand."  
  
"Very resourceful." Dumbledore commented. "However, you did not answer the question I asked."  
  
"Nevertheless, that's all the answer I have to give." Wilfred said quickly, before turning back to Sasami. "Go on, just give it a wave."  
  
Sasami sighed, took the and, and, with a bit of a gulp, gave it a timid wave.  
  
And the wand sang.  
  
Now, a wand singing is a rare occurance, for it will only sing when it is first held by its true owner, and not necessarily then either. The problem is, with so many wands, and wizards out there, it's hard for the wand to get to the right wizard at the right time. Take for instance, Harry Potter's wand. It had an easy time. It was, by sheer logic, automatically in the right place; all it had to do was lay low for fifty five years and impress upon the other wands how important it was that they not pick Harry. The reason Harry's wand didn't sing was because of the darkness of the bond connecting Harry, Voldemort, and the wands, and it was all it could do not to cry. Some say that it sung when Voldemort was finally killed, but only by the type of people who subscribe to the Quibbler, and think that if a boy and a girl get eachothers wands, they're destined to fall in love.  
  
Ron's wand, on the other hand, had it a lot tougher. It was all primed and ready to be picked by Ron, unaware that Ron was going to be using his brother's wand, and wouldn't buy his own for another two years. The wand panicked and chose Hermione, thus snubbing her wand, which sulked for two years and then picked Ron in retaliation.  
  
At the same time, Neville left with George's wand, because, as Neville's luck tends to run, his wand was made that evening, not an hour after he left. His wand was later sold to Colin Creevy, who's wand, having a veela hair core, was in Barrilester's Wand Boutique, in Paris, and was sold to a boy named Pierre, not five minutes ago. Draco Malfoy's proper wand had a core of a cockatrice feather, was made thirteen hundred years ago, and sunk in a galleon off the coast of Spain, eight hundred years ago. It remains there today, which we can all agree is a good thing.  
  
See how complicated it gets?  
  
But Sasami's wand did sing, and beautifully. A cascade of harp music filled the air and the lamps flared and chased away the shadows, if only for a moment. Everybody cheered, and a great weight seemed to lift from Wilfred's shoulders.  
  
"Ahh, the sound of a wand singing." A voice said over the echoing wind chime that heralded his entrance. Everybody turned to see who the newcomer was. That is, everybody, except Wilfred, who quickly but gently took Sasami's wand, put it back in it's box, and locked it.  
  
The man's slippery voice went well with his long, greasy, black pony tail and sunken, oily, yellow skin and gave him the manner of an eel. The rest of him reminded Sasami of a skeleton. He was very tall and very skinny, and very brittle looking. Most of his height came from his legs, which had pronouncedly knobby knees. His arms were very similar to his legs, and although his left hand was concealed by a slightly too large black leather falconer's glove, his right hand, clad only in a fingerless silk glove, also black, sported long, needle-like fingers, which deftly spun a coin. He didn't wear robes like most wizards did, but rather an all black ensamble including tight jeans tucked into calf-high doe skin boots, a sleeveless silk shirt, and a long silk cape.  
  
"They say that to hear the sound of wandsong is the true reason why all wandmakers chose the proffession." He said with an evil smile.  
  
"They might have been right before you came along." Wilfred said, not hiding the loathing in his voice. "Get out of my shop!"  
  
"Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"  
  
"Old friend? Old friend?! You stole all my idea's from when we studied together, and now you're using them to try to run me out of business!"  
  
"Run your uncle out of business." The man said stepping closer to Sasami. Wilfred blocked the path. "I offered you a full partnership." He sighed, toying with a loose wand on the table. "In fact, the offer still stands. With your people skills and my business sense, we'd make a fortune!"  
  
"Finally realized that all that alchemical knowledge does nothing if you can't judge the person, eh?" Wilfred smiled an evil, if hopelessly outclassed, smile. "Or maybe that's not all you're lacking."  
  
"I'll have you know, I sold a boy a spellrod on the first try, just now. He and his father are taking a tour of my shop as we speak. It didn't sing but..." he glanced hungrily at Sasami, then stood up straight as if he had just realized something. "How rude of me!" he exclaimed in poorly faked horror. "I haven't introduced myself. I am Eliss, the wandmaker. You are, of course, Professor Albus Dumbledore, no introduction needed."  
  
"Apparently not," Dumbledore said absently, as he poured more tea.  
  
"I regret not attending Hogwarts, but my father thought it best if I study at Beauxbatons, instead."  
  
"No doubt he had his reasons," Dumbledore said, with a knowing gaze.  
  
"And you gents are?" He asked, ignoring an angry Wilfred and turning to the twins.  
  
"Fred," said George.  
  
"And George," said Fred.  
  
"Weasely."  
  
"Of the Firey Red Mirror comical supply store."  
  
"We'd love to take that tour you mentioned," George said with a sly smile.  
  
"Would be splendid really," Fred said, toying mischeiviously with a wand box.  
  
"I'll, um, see what I can do," Eliss said, taken slightly aback. "And whom do I have the privaledge of meeting?" He said to Ayeka as he kissed her hand.  
  
"Jurai Aye- I mean, Miss Ayeka Jurai." Ayeka said, uncomfortable under his gaze.  
  
"Charmed." He spun to face Sasami, who he eyed hungrily again. "And that leaves us with our lucky new wand owner. And you are?"  
  
"Watakshi wa- I mean, my name is Sasami, how do you do?" Sasami gulped.  
  
"I'm Mysta-"  
  
"I was wondering, Sasami," Eliss interrupted. "If I could see your wand. To hear a wand sing is so rare these days."  
  
"I'm s-sorry, you c-can't." Sasami stuttered.  
  
"What?!" He snarled. "Why not?!"  
  
"B-b-because it's l-l-locked." Sasami mummered, holding up the box.  
  
"You'll get no clues here." Wilfred said cockily, stepping infront of Ayeka, stopping her from teaching Eliss some Juraian rules on manners.  
  
"Dammit, Will!" Eliss fumed, knocking clear a pile of wands. "I'm so close! But something is missing! Until I figure it out, my spellrods are barely above these crappy wands."  
  
"Don't compare you're sloppy shortcuts with my uncle's wands. Now get out, before I throw you out. Even if you've been taking your potions, I doubt your bones will appreciate cobblestone much."  
  
Eliss made to move, but Wilfred stepped forward menacingly. Granted, Eliss towered head and shoulders over Wilfred, who was above average height himself, but he must have still weighed a good twenty or thirty pouinds less. He flinched and stepped back, towards the entrance.  
  
"This isn't over yet." He hissed before storming out.  
  
"I WILL find the answer before you, Eliss." Wilfred muttered to himself. "And it will be I who revolutionizes the wand market!"  
  
"What a jerk!" Mystara huffed before turning back to Wilfred. "Do me next! I want a special wand!" She had to jump and wave her arms to get Wilfred's attention.  
  
"Sorry." He said sheepishly.  
  
"Be sorry later! I want my wand before Olivander gets back and stops you."  
  
"Don't worry about that. With all the protection he's added since Eliss moved in, we've still got some time left. This shouldn't take long at all. Ambrosia, is it?"  
  
"I hate that name. Call me Mystara!"  
  
"Hmm, would that be in honor of Mystara the Merciful, founder of the twelve uses of unicorn horn?"  
  
"You mean there already is a famous Mystara?" Mystara said mournfully.  
  
"We always thought it was in honor of Mystara the Malevolent." Fred snickered. "Founder of the one use for unicorn blood and the alleged wife of the Dark Lord."  
  
"You guys knew?!" Mystara yelled, while Fred and George rolled on the ground laughing.  
  
"I like the name Ambrosia." Sasami said, trying to be helpful.  
  
"As do I," Wilfrd added. "Ambrosia is a mythical nectar that was supposed to be so powerful even the Greek Gods were said to have covetted it."  
  
"Really?" Ambrosia said, trying not to sound to impressed. "And there hasn't been any famous Ambrosia's before?"  
  
"None that I can think of." Wilfred smiled.  
  
"Alright, I guess I'll stick with it. For now at least. Now, give me my wand!"  
  
"Alright, Ambrosia, let's have a think." He walked around her. "Twelve inches, no doubt about that. Woods a bit iffy. Eucalyptus would have good odds, but the only twelve inch I have of that wood has a chimera heartstring, and that's dead wrong. Now you'd have a good shot with an oak wand with a dragon heartsring, but," He said the last part quickly in response to Ambrosia's glare. "But I think I have something better." He took out a plain wand box. "Understand that I only have about a dozen wands of my own, and that none of the otehrs have a shot of accepting you. If this doesn't work, you'll have to try my uncle's wands, which I will remind you are no worse than my own."  
  
"Less telling, more spelling." Ambrosia said, reaching impatiently for the wand. Wilfred opened the box and, with the same care he showed with Sasami's wand, lifted out a solid looking, dark-gray wand.  
  
"Iron wod, for an iron will." He said handing her the wand. And for your dominating presence, a banshee hair core. Now it's a tad heavy, so give it a powerful wave."  
  
Ambrosia nodded, and brought the wand down hard. It didn't sing but it did cause the lamps to flare so brightly that they melted a little.  
  
"I think we'll call that a success." Stelana's sharp voice said crisply over Amborosia's cheering.  
  
"Mom! Dad!" Ambrosia said palely. "When did you get here?"  
  
"We came in as Eliss left." Alexander said, stepping over to Sasami. "Let's see those hands." Sasami held out her hands. Alexander gently removed the bandages and applied some ice blue salve. It felt like her hands were plunged into an icy river, but she could feel the burns fade.  
  
"Please don't tell my uncle about this." Wilfred pleaded.  
  
"I won't." Stelana said, her voice as stern as ever. "Provided you do."  
  
"But..." Wilfred started, but trailed off under Stelana's gaze. "Very well, I'll do as you wish."  
  
"You shouldn't be ashamed, Wilfred." Ayeka said reassuringly. "I'm sure your uncle will come to understand. You have a remarkable gift."  
  
"Thank you, Miss Ayeka. I pride myself on my ability to match any wizard to their proper wand."  
  
"Oh really?" Ayeka said slyly. "Then what wand would you give me, if I were to ask for one."  
  
"Hmm, that's a hard one." He paced around her. "You're not a child, which makes it harder. "I'll say one thing for certain; like your sister, most wands probably won't even work for you. You'll need a special one. I'm going to go out on a limb and say sixteen inches. The tree-type is getting me though. The closest match I can think of is guardian oak, but that doesn't quite fit. As for the core, I'd say without a doubt, a manehair from the White Lion. He's the guardian of the savanna, like a dryad is the guardian of a forest. Like the unicorn he represents purity, though not as greatly, but he is just as noble, and braver than a unicorn, so he represents these qualities too. But most importantly, the White Lion is a unique creature. There is only one and this is important, because I sense a deep lonliness in you."  
  
Ayeka blushed bright red and attempted to stutter a response. She was saved from this by Wilfred's robe catching on fire. As he stumbled around, knocking over piles of wand boxes, Sasami glanced behind her to see George quietly slipping a burnt match into his robe sleeve.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ayeka asked as Wilfred clapped out the last of the flames.  
  
"Nothing that a bit of that salve won't fix."  
  
"Thank you for the... flattering analysis." She said, blushing slightly as she handed him the jar.  
  
"Oh! Oh! Do me next!" Fred said in a mocking tone. He then cringed under Ayeka's glare, allowing George to smack him upside the head.  
  
THe creaking of stairs told them Olivander was returning.  
  
"Thank you all for this opportunity." Wilfred said hastily. "But I think the coming roe had best be a family affair.  
  
Thanks for the wand." Sasami said cheerily as she left. She stopped outside and listened in, while Ayeka discussed payment.  
  
"Consider it a gift." Wilfred said warmly.  
  
"I will do no such thing. This wand obviously cost you a lot."  
  
"Verey well, that will be six sickles for the wood, four sickles for the labor, and one sickle for the overdue fine I racked up researching the pressure hex. Since the rest cost me in ways uncountable, they don't count. So the total is eleven sickles and not a knut more. And if you linger it will end up costing me more, so I suggest you take the offer."  
  
Ayeake hmmphed, but paid the money with a smile.  
  
"Now, Sasami." Wilfred said, leaning out the door. "I have a final deal for you." He held out the ornate box that once held her wand. It was open and empty. "This is called a secret box. I've erased the password, so you can write a new one. Go on, just trace a word into the velvet with your wand." Sasami thought for a moment, then hastily scribbled some kanji into the velvet, which glowed for an instant before going back to normal. "There. Now, when you close it." He closed it almost all the way, but kept a finger in the way. "It locks. To unlock it, press here and here," he pointed to either side of the rose, "then whisper the password as quietly as you can, and it will unlock. Nothing but the password can open this box, and no spell can tell you what's inside it when it's locked."  
  
"Wow! That's neat!" Sasami exclaimed as she took the box.  
  
"All I ask in return," Wilfred continued, "Is that the first secret you keep in it be your wand. Do that, and I'll consider it an even trade."  
  
"But, why?"  
  
"Because I think Eliss is going to try to get a better look at that wand. And I think it would be best for both of us if he couldn't... relieve you of it."  
  
"Okay, I'll keep it safe." Sasami said, significantly less cheerful about the box. She put the wand in it and snapped it shut, then ran off to where Ambrosia was waiting.  
  
George didn't say goodbye to Wilfred. Instead he just brushed past him as he tried to strike up a conversation about Quidditch with Ayeka. Fred, however was a bit more social.  
  
"Hey, good luck, Will." He said, clapping him on the back. "And if all things work out fair enough, drop by the Mirror after closing hours. Side door leads to our living quarters. I promise no jokes. We'll maybe a few, but definitely low. We've got some leftovers from some failed experiments, I thought you might be interested in. Could be good for wand cores. I don't know for sure, but, hey, you're the expert. Anything you can take off our hands would be appreciated."  
  
"I'll stop by if I can."  
  
"Great. You can also fill us in on the schematics of those spellrod thingies. Help us knock a few bludgers Eliss's way."  
  
"Consider it done." He said, clasping Fred's outstretched hand. THere was a hiss, as if steam was released, and Fred's hand turned bright purple.  
  
"Hmm," Fred frowned, looking at his hand. "Still backfiring." He shrugged, and rejoined his brother, who was trying to explain Quidditch to Ayeka. Judging by the fact that Ayeka kept trying to check him for a fever, thinking he was delerious, he wasn't doing a very good job.  
  
"Oh!" Ayeka exclaimed. "Sasami, wait here with Ambrosia." She leaned in and whispered closely. "And keep an eye on George. I think he's sick. His forehead is awfully hot." And Ayeka ran back into Ollivanders.  
  
"And this is important, because I sense a great lonliness in you." George said, imitating Wilfred's solemn voice. "Can you believe that rube? What are you smiling at?" The last part was aimed at Fred who had a wide smile on his face.  
  
"George and Ayeka, sitting in a tree-ee!" Fred started singing before George elbowed him in the stomach.  
  
"Oh, grow up!" George snapped.  
  
"Maybe I should send an owl to Mum. Tell her to add another hand to the clock." Fred gaffawed, ducking another swing from George.  
  
"Sod off!"  
  
"Another hand to the clock?" Sasami asked confused, wondering if she had the words wrong.  
  
"Yeah, we got this clock, right?" Fred said kneeling next to Sasami and rolling up his sleeve. "Tell's us what's going on with our whole family. Our watches are set to it, see?"  
  
Sasami did see. The watch had no numbers, but nine golden hands, each one with a miniature portrait on it. Six sported different redheaded young men, while the remaining three showed a young woman, and an older couple, all three with similarly red hair. In addition, there were three silver hands, each with another picture and a letter on the arrow tip. One had a woman with long black hair and a P, another had a beatiful blonde woman with a C, and a smart looking woman with brown curly hair and an R above her. Finally, there was a bronze arrow with an A above it and a dark haired boy with glasses, hiding in the corner of the picture. Around the edges were words like "home," and "work," and other locations.  
  
"Mortal Peril..." Sasami read outloud. She frowned as she tried to remember her English lessons. "Doesn't peril mean danger?" She asked Fred.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Cuz the older man's pointed to it."  
  
"What?!' Fred snapped his wrist around, while George tried to roll up his own sleeve. "Crap, it's Dad, George!"  
  
"He must be trying to fix the lawn mower again." Geroge moaned.   
  
"We gotta go. Bye everybody."  
  
"Say good-bye to Ayeka for us, Sasami." George added.  
  
"Tell her, Georgie wuvs her!" Fred taunted.  
  
"Tell Fred to stick his head in a dragon's mouth, while you're at it."  
  
"But it's really too bad about that package." Fred said, looking mournfully at Ambrosia. Then there was a loud pop, and both were gone.  
  
Sasami turned to Dumbledore. "Mr. Weasley will be okay, right?" Sasami asked nervously.  
  
Dumbledore smiled. "Arthur has survived far worse than-"  
  
"AND DISGRACE THE NAME OF OLIVANDER FOR GENERATIONS TO COME!" Olivander's voice cut Dumbledore off as it boomed across the street. Everybody turned to see Ayeka hastily exiting the wandshop. "IT'S NO WONDER WE HAVE CRETINS LIKE THAT WRETCHED-" the voice cut off suddenly as the door slid closed.  
  
Blushing slightly at the attention, Ayeka quickly crossed the street.  
  
"I do hope he's alright." Ayeka sighed as she looked around. "Where did Mr. Weasley go?"  
  
"They had to go save their dad from a killer lawn mower." Ambrosia laughed, before Stelana rapped her on the head. "Ow! What was that for? It's true this time!"  
  
"It's not polite to talk about other people's private lives."  
  
"Gee, Mum. Why don't you just make a list of what's polite and what's not?"  
  
"I did. "Stelana said sternly. "It's not my fault you never read it."  
  
"It's not my fault you made it so boring." Ambrosia muttered, but quietly enough that her mother didn't hear it.  
  
"Oh, dear." muttered Dumbledore, who was looking down the street.  
  
"What is it, Professor?" Alexander asked. His smile turned into a frown as he followed Dumbledore's gaze. "It's that reporter, Skeeter."  
  
"I was wondering if you would be so kind, Mr. Kyran..."  
  
"I think I have enough left." Alexander said, as he reached into a small puch on his belt. He pulled out six small apples and tossed one of them to each person. They were all the same deep green as his robes.  
  
"Now the important thing," he explained to Ayeka and Sasami, "is that you take a big bite, but don't swallow any of it. And don't spit it out until I tell you to. Okay, now."  
  
As one, all six of them bit into their apple. It was so sweet and juicy, that Sasami had a hard time trying not to swallow. Everything around her became blurry and gray. Only the apple remained it's true color.  
  
A skinny, rat-faced man in mustard yellow robes came by, and by the way Dumbledore and Alexander followed him, Sasami realized this must be Skeeter.  
  
"Blast." He muttered. He glanced all around, but his gaze seemed to slide right over Sasami and the others from one side to the other. "I thought I saw them."  
  
He turned to leave, and Alexander relaxed noticably in the shoulders. He was about to raise his hands to signal them when Dumbledore caught his arm.  
  
Sasami saw it too. Skeeter turned around as a tall blonde woman in fog gray robes approached.  
  
"Ahh, Zorina, Sister of the Gate." Skeeter said in a slimey tone.  
  
"Sister of the Inner Wall, as you well know." Zorina said huffily. "What's a toad like you doing here, Micheal Skeeter?"  
  
"I'm hurt. I always said you'd go far. In fact, I'm sure you'll be the next Mother of the Keep."  
  
"Really? Because in your last article, you said that I was a mad woman on a self important crusade, and that I should never have been promoted past Tower."  
  
"I would never say such a thing!" Skeeter exclaimed, pretending to be appalled. "You must be thinking of my sister. She always was threatened by you."  
  
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Zorina scowled. "Besides, I'm pretty sure this was in that article you wrote AFTER you turned Rita, your own sister, in for being an unlicensed animagus."  
  
"A reporter's duty is to the truth."  
  
"Your only duty is to yourself. You make me sick."  
  
Sasami realized that she wasn't the only one getting sick. The apple, once so sweet, was becoming increasingly bitter in her mouth.  
  
"Since you're here," Zorina continued. "That means you must be sniffing hungrily at Dumbledore's trail for news. Is he near?"  
  
"Ahh, so you're interested in the girl too. I thought so." Skeeter said slyly, making him look even more like a rat.  
  
"What girl?" Zorina asked puzzledly.  
  
"Rumor has it that there's a girl that he went to great length to get into Hogwarts. A Japanese girl."  
  
Sasami looked down. She didn't like being talked about like this. She also really wanted to spit out the apple, which was tasting exteremly bitter and sour now.  
  
Zorina's interest wanned the moment he mentioned Japan. "Then it's not about that." She muttered to herself, but Micheal apparently overheard.  
  
"Ahh, so you're still looking for the heir." He said with a cruel smile. "No luck, then."  
  
"I have better things to do than chat with a toad. Have you seen Dumbledore or not."  
  
"Sadly, I have not, fair one. I thought he was around here somewhere."  
  
"Then I have nothing more to discuss with you." She turned to leave, but Michael stepped in her path.  
  
"Come on, now. We can help eachother. I mean, if you do find what you're looking for... what a story! I might have some information about it..."  
  
"And I suppose you'd give it to me for exclusive rights." Zorina said with a tone, saying that she was furious with herself for even being tempted.  
  
Sasami looked down at the rest of the apple in her hand and nearly threw up then and there. The apple had become shrunken and rotten. She shuddered to think of the same thing in her mouth.  
  
Apparantly she wasn't the only one at their limit, for at that point Alexander reached into another pouch and pulled out a large golden apple. It was smooth and shimmired in the light, promising the sweetest juice imaginable. He looked longingly at it and then hurled it down the street.  
  
Sasami felt an unresistable urge to get that apple. It was too good to be wasted like that. She rushed forward, but something stopped her. Dumbledore, had placed his hand on her chest holding her back. He shook his head sagely, and Sasami noted that he, too, was looking pretty green. She looked to the side, and saw Alexander holding Ayeka by the arm, and Stelana calmly stepping on Ambrosia's robe.  
  
Michael and Zorina, however, had nothing stopping them. Although they didn't see the apple, they heard it bounce down the street and were compelled to find out what the sound was.  
  
The moment they were gone, Michael signaled and the group, as one, violently spat out the now rotten apple.  
  
"Gah! That was disgusting." Ambrosia coughed as she struggled to keep her lunch down.  
  
"I apologize." Alexander said weakly. "You're not supposed to keep it in your mouth that long, but we didn't have a choice."  
  
"It's a good thing you thought to use one of your golden apples, dear." Stelana said reassuringly. "Or we would've been trapped here forever."  
  
"Yeah, but still a pity." Alexander sighed. "Those are so hard to come by. I only have three left, and I don't think I'll be able to get to Greece for a year at least."  
  
More time had passed than they had realized. It was now five o'clock. Dumbledore took his leave of the others and went off searching for Professor McGonagall. Stelana led the rest of them back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they served a barbecued roast pig for dinner.  
  
After dinner Ambrosia taught Sasami how to play exploding snap, an exciting game involving exploding cards. Ambrosia beat Sasami mercilessly at it, until it was time for bed. The Kyran's apparently had a special suite they stayed in, but Ayeka, still worried about her lack of wizarding money, rented a smaller room. Still, the bed was comfortable, even if it did creak.  
  
Sasami listened to her older sister sleep while she thought over the events of the day. So many wonderful things had happened, but there were so many questions too. Who was the old man in the book store? Why was Dumbledore interested in a dryad's tear? What heir was Zorina looking for? And why did the Kyran's keep cutting off Olivander?  
  
Sasami's mind ran over these questions as she drifted into a wonderful dream where she and Ambrosia were powerful witches who defeated a dragon, and she rode off with a prince, who looked a lot like the handsome boy from the Quidditch shop.  
  
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Well, there's the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Please, please, PLEASE, review, because I really want to know if people like it enough for me to continue. 


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